1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable handle of luggage and more particularly to such a retractable handle having a damping device which is capable of damply extending upward a predetermined distance in a substantially stable speed when a push button is pressed for easing a pulling of the handle thereafter.
2. Description of Related Art
Wheeled luggage cases have developed rapidly over past several decades as more people travel either for business or leisure. Early luggage handle assemblies are exposed, thus detracting from its external appearance. In recent years, most handle assemblies are concealed in the luggage with only a top portion of the handle grip exposed. This can preserve the luggage's appearance. For facilitating user to pull the handle grip, a recessed bezel is typically provided on the top of the luggage. It inevitably much detracts from its external appearance. For solving this problem, a number of designs about automatically bouncing a handle out of luggage have been proposed in many prior patents. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,266, entitled “Concealable And Expandable Handle’ and Taiwanese Patent Published No. 380,389 entitled “Fixing Assembly For Luggage Handle Spring” are two of them. The former discloses a spring for bouncing out the handle being formed in a bottom of support tube, while the latter discloses the spring for bouncing out the handle being formed in a lower portion of sliding tube. In operation, a user can press a push button on the handle grip to bounce out the handle. In one aspect it is convenient. However, the sudden bouncing of the handle grip having a bounce distance from about 20 cm to about 30 cm may cause danger. For example, the head and/or the eyes of a user may be hurt by the bounced handle grip when the head of the user is close to the handle grip in pressing the push button and sufficient care is not taken. This is not safe and is unsightly due to larger bounce distance from about 20 cm to about 30 cm. Moreover, length of the handle may be shortened if the spring is provided either in the bottom of support tube or in the lower portion of sliding tube. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.